Guys Like That
by ThnksFrThMmrs87
Summary: When Ziva has a date, McGee and Tony find themselves to be unimpressed. Guys like that just aren't what a woman needs
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer-- I don't own the characters of NCIS unfortunately

Tony looked up from his computer when he heard Ziva and Abby exchange good mornings as the latter headed back to the lab. When she came into his line of sight he couldn't push off the little stab of desire that worked at his gut.

"Aren't you a little over dressed for work Zee-vah?" he questioned, fighting to ignore that incredibly inconvenient pang of lust that was working at him.

She set her bag down at her desk and turned to glare at him. "I do not think that I am over dressed, no," she told him.

He looked her up and down, taking in the black slacks and cherry red wrap top. "Says the queen of the cargo pants."

"I really do not see how what I am wearing is any of your business Tony."

McGee looked up from his desk and smiled. "You look nice Ziva. Special occasion?"

She blew out a frustrated breath. "Why do you automatically assume that there is something on just because I am wearing a nice shirt? Maybe I just felt like something different."

Tony and Tim shared a doubtful look before they both turned to look at her again. "Something that different?" McGee asked.

"Abby dressed her," Gibbs told them as he blew past and over to his desk.

"That true Ziva?" Tony questioned, smiling mischeviously. "And why is that?"

Ziva resisted the urge to smack him as he settled himself on the edge of her desk. "If you must know, I have a lunch date."

"So how does a lunch date equate to Abby having to dress you?" Tim asked. She shot him a death glare and he shrugged. "Just curious."

"Aren't we all McGeek?" Tony questioned.

This time she did smack him, borrowing a Gibbs classic move and slapping him upside the head. "Abby asked what I would be wearing and evidently my selection did not suit her. She came over last night and made me promise that I would wear this."

"Classic Abby," McGee said with a smile.

"Yes. Now can we please talk about something other than my clothing now?"

Tony smiled. "Of course. Who's the guy?"

When Ziva took off for her lunch date Tony and McGee began to speculate who the guy was. Tim was putting money on someone from her apartment complex while Tony was going with someone from the bar. They both shut up when Gibbs told them to start betting on which of them would get slapped first if they didn't knock it off. It was wise to listen to the boss when he got that way, so they continued their debate over instant messaging.

Everyone was surprised when Ziva appeared again after less than an hour Tony and McGee shared another look, this time hesitant. She looked pissed, and neither was sure if they would be safe from bodily harm if they chose to say anything. But Gibbs was on the phone, and wouldn't have been likely to say anything anyway, so it would have to be one of them. For a moment they silently fought with each other, and after a round of rock paper scissors McGee gritted his teeth.

"You're back early Ziva," he commented.

She slammed her bag down on her desk. "I was held up."

"Held up?" McGee asked incredulously. "Where did you go to lunch?"

Gibbs took a welcome break from the phone call he was dealing with long enough to speak to McGee. "She means stood up McGee."

"Held up, stood up, whatever," she hissed.

"You were actually stood up?" Tony asked.

She glared at him. "So it would seem."

McGee shook his head. "I hate guys like that. They think they can just treat people like they don't even matter. I think you're better off without this guy Ziva."

"Thank you McGee."

"Thank him later Ziva," Gibbs told her. "We've got a dead marine and a wife who's gone missing. Gas the truck McGee."

"On it boss."

They all sprang into action, but Ziva noticed that Tony was moving slower than usual. There was a frown on his face as he gathered his gear, and she decided to wait around for him to see if she could get to the bottom of whatever was upsetting him.

Tony pushed back from his desk and Ziva worked her way around it to sit on the one corner. "You look very unhappy," she commented.

He looked up at her. "Long day."

"Really?" she asked. "You seemed perfectly fine when I got here. One cannot help but wonder if my getting stood up bothers you."

"And why is that Zee-Vah?" he asked, leaning back in his chair.

She leaned forward slightly. "Because you were fine until you heard about it."

Tony shrugged. "Who knows David."

He stood to retrieve his gun and then slung his backpack over his shoulder; still she didn't move. "Could you just for once be honest Tony?" she asked him.

"Fine," he ground out. Turning around, he stood in front of her. "McGee was right; guys like that think that women don't matter. It bothers me."

Ziva shook her head. "You do not exactly have the most considered history either Tony. So why does this bother you so much?"

There was a moment of charged silence before he shook his head and slid past her to the opposite side of the desk. "I may not have the best track record Ziva, but I know a few things for sure." He was headed for the elevator when he stopped and turned back to look at her.

Their eyes momentarily locked as she moved out from behind his desk and she saw an intensity there that made a delicious shiver run down her spine. "Like what? What do you know for sure?"

Tony turned as he answered her, and he spoke so quietly that she barely heard him. "You matter."

Note From The Author-- I originally intended this as a one shot, but depending on how much it starts to aggravate me that there isn't a whole lot of resolution there may be a second chapter


	2. Chapter 2

You matter.

Two words, just two, and yet they had turned Ziva's world upside down. After they left the bullpen it had been as if nothing had ever happened. The jokes, annoyance and threats from Gibbs were the same as always; so much so that if she hadn't pinched herself good and hard after he said them, she would have wondered if the words had left Tony's mouth at all.

Their case was very straightforward and it was out of their hands in under a week. It was quiet after that, and she found that she spent a significant amount of her time trying to figure out just what the hell he had meant by uttering those two words. More than once she caught McGee sending her a worried glance after she had tuned out the rest of the world.

This was one of those times when Ziva really wished she had more girlfriends who could listen to her problems and offer advice, though she always went back on those thoughts in the end when she thought of the sheer bitchiness that often came with the women. So she did what she always did when she needed a true friend who would listen and offer advice without judgment or disdain; she went down to the lab.

"He told me that I matter."

Abby turned from her computer at the sound of Ziva's voice to find her friend looking somewhat lost. That never boded well with her. "Ziva, I need you to speak in complete sentences," she said. "Preferably with names included."

"Tony," she said quietly, not really looking at Abby. "When that guy stood me up he seemed very upset, and I asked him why. He got very serious."

"And he told you that you matter?"

She nodded, turning her head so she could see Abby's face. "What on earth did he mean?"

Abby shook her head. "That you matter. Ziva, this is Tony we're talking about. He's more complex than he seems on the surface but when he says something with complete sincerity once in a blue moon he usually means it."

"Yes, but why do I matter?"

And suddenly the light glimmered. "So you're wondering if you matter like a friend matters, or if you matter like a partner does, or maybe if you matter like a loved one."

"Precisely!" she cried. "He did not say a thing other than those two damn words."

"I see your dilemma," Abby said thoughtfully, taking a sip of her Caf Pow for inspiration. It hit her, and she rushed away for a moment, only to come back seconds later with a plush toy in her arms. "Would Bert help?"

Ziva didn't have much choice other than to take the flatulent hippo as he was shoved into her arms, letting loose with his trademark when she squeezed him. "I just do not know what to do. I feel as if I am going crazy and there is nothing I can do about it."

Abby watched Bert carefully; ready to pull him out of Ziva's strangle hold if necessary. "There is something you can do."

"What?" she asked, her attention rapidly turning from her thoughts back to her friend.

"Well first…" She wrestled the hippo away from Ziva, patting his head before setting him down. "Don't take your frustrations out on Bert. Second, you ask him."

"Ask Bert?"

She sighed. "No, ask Tony."

"You honestly think that would work?"

"I know so Ziva! Like I said, he can be deceptively simple to decipher sometimes. So ask him."

It couldn't be that simple, not after she had agonized over it for almost a week. Still, Abby knew Tony, and if she said simply asking would do it, then she would try. She made her way back up to the bullpen and veered over to Tony's desk rather than hers, leaning with her palms flat against the wood. "Why do I matter so much?"

Tony glanced around and was relieved to see that Gibbs wasn't there. However… "Magoo, find somewhere else to be."

"You know Tony I actually don't have to do…"

Both he and Ziva turned their heads and spoke together. "McGee!"

"Okay, I'm going. Maybe Abby will actually want me down in the lab."

"Doubt it Probie," Tony said, waiting until he was out of ear shot to speak again. "Want to run that by me again?"

Ziva leaned in closer. "Why do I matter so much?"

He leaned back in his chair, the picture of relaxed calm. "Why do you want to know so badly?"

"Would you quit answering my questions with questions?"

"Depends, would you admit that it's been driving you crazy?"

"How did you know it was?"

He shook his head. "This is turning into an Abbott and Costello routine."

"Who?" she questioned.

"Never mind."

She let out an exasperated sigh. "Will you just be honest with me, please?"

It was the please that did it. Taking a fortifying breath, Tony opened his mouth and actually told her the truth. "You matter Ziva, you just do. I don't know how to tell you what that means or why I said it. I just know that guy didn't deserve you, because he didn't get just how big of a mistake he made standing you up that day."

"And if it had been you?" she asked, feeling her heart speed up.

"You wouldn't have been left sitting there." He stood up and walked around her, forcing her to turn around and put her back to the desk in order to see him. "You would have been at a classy restaurant after work for a real date, and it wouldn't have ended with you going home disappointed," he told her.

To say that she was blown away would have been an understatement. She couldn't seem to find any words to say what was running through her head, and so she figured that the best thing she could do was show him, and she leaned in and brought her mouth to his. Something snapped, and the kiss went from something gentle and tentative to almost an exact duplicate of the one they had shared undercover, something heated and urgent that burned them both from the inside out. Then they pulled rapidly apart and she slammed into the desk as they heard Gibbs' voice.

"What have I told you about the rules?" he asked, trying to maintain a gruff exterior even as he fought back a smile.

"We know Boss, but…"

Ziva didn't even look over at Gibbs, just up at Tony with a wicked grin. "Some rules are made to be broken."


End file.
